Checking the Availability of a Business Name for Starting a Business in Georgia

The Entrepreneurs Register of the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR) is the authoritative source for name searches. The intended business name should first be searched exactly and then in likely variations. These include different Georgian and Latin spellings, transliterations, shared word stems, phonetically similar forms, and variations with different legal-form suffixes. When registering a name, NAPR checks its own databases and may request additional evidence. Except for an Individual Entrepreneur, the name must differ from the names of entrepreneurs already registered. If a name is already taken or too similar to an existing name, a change or a sufficiently distinctive addition may be necessary. The available Georgian version of the name should be planned together with a consistent Latin spelling for contracts, bank documents, the website, and the domain. However, an available name in the register does not automatically mean that no earlier trademark rights exist. Therefore, checking availability in the Entrepreneurs Register alone should be distinguished from a separate conflict check in trademark registers and in the market.